I have definitely noticed an increase in puzzles over the last couple months. The latest one to cross my eyes snuck into the app store without me knowing it last month. This game, Schrödinger’s Rat, from devs South Peak and FORMation named is the latest to pique my interest.

I never had the opportunity to play the game Portal, but from everything I read I’d imagine that the developer of V is for Vortex was somewhat inspired by that critically acclaimed game. I’m not going to give V the benefit of being coined a “2D Portal”, however. The problem it is that while the concept is sound, the execution is way too basic. As the game stands right now, it feels more like an early version than a final product, at least as far as content is concerned. V really needs to be expanded on and toughened up before it’s ready for prime time.

Puzzle games are incredibly versatile – whether as standalone offerings, or incorporated into other games, you will find a fair share of them in the App Store. It’s quite tricky to pull off a story-driven hybrid type of puzzle game but Kingdom of Gnester does just that.

Tangrams which literally means “seven boards of skill” is an age old Chinese puzzle game, where the player must construct objects by cleverly placing seven flat shapes. I have tried quite a number of Tangram titles, both on the iPhone and other platforms, and have always found them too easy for my taste. And it always boggled my mind, why do they have to stick with the basic 7 shapes, it’s the 21st century already! Well, Mobigame have obviously heard my prayers and released Cross Fingers, a game which reinvents the old mechanic.

I think the only people who’ve not heard of Yetisports and more specifically the little flash game that started it all: Pingu Throw are the poor sods who’ve lived under a rock for the past 6 years. The original made its debut back in 2004 and paralyzed whole companies. I admit to having spent a fair bit of time on it myself. The Horrible Vikings is a similar game which features the same basic mechanics. But this time, things are taken to a whole new level.

Strimko is an original game developed by Quokka Studios. It isn’t only a totally new and innovative puzzle game, but it definitely is a literal upgrade to the typical Sudoku puzzles that people spend so much of their time trying to complete. Strimko is a great time-killing application for any iPhone or iPod Touch user and we are going to get right into its every detail in this review.

Hell, the final frontier… Wait, you’re not going there, are you? But Dante is on his quest to save the beautiful Beatrice, who was condemned to hell by the hand of her jealous husband. Is he going to make it? What’s he going to find on the way? Is the road to hell really paved with good intentions?

Here’s an interesting piece of trivia about crossword puzzles – Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynne is said to have invented it, originally called “Word-Cross” when it first appeared in the Sunday edition of New York World on December 21, 1913. Nearly a century old, crossword puzzles are so quietly integrated into our daily lives that we may take them for granted. Anywhere in the world, someone is tapping his pen, thinking of answers to brain teasers that draw upon a limitless resource of words, facts, personalities, events and history.

As a child I simply adored Sherlock Holmes. I had the complete collection of works by Arthur Conan Doyle and later even read some of the spin-offs, though they were never half-as-good. The genius detective has been a hero of mine ad it always amazed me how he always managed to crack even the most bizarre of cases. And now, just in time for the release of the latest movie about the great Sherlock, Warner Brothers invite you to test your intellect in the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries.

Jewel Quest Mysteries: Curse of the Emerald Tear is the port of the popular PC game to the iDevice, where we follow the adventures of Rupert and Emma as they go on an expedition set in the ruins of ancient Egypt. The game is packaged as an engaging adventure story that combines hidden object and match three, two popular genres, with an RPG-like element thrown-in.